Western companies continue to register trademarks in Russia en masse. What does this mean?

On November 16, the South Korean company LG registered six trademarks of its products in Russia. A few days earlier, it became known about the registration of McDonald's brands in Rospatent — the company registered the trademarks "Big Teisti" and "MakDostavka". In Russia, there is renewed talk about the possible return of departed Western companies to the domestic market. Whether foreign brands will return to the domestic market and under what conditions this can happen is in the Izvestia article.

Prospects for the return of Western companies

• Russia has repeatedly stated that Western brands will be able to return to the country, but when making this decision, the integrity of a foreign investor, his position on sensitive issues for Russia, the needs of the Russian economy and the interests of domestic manufacturers will be taken into account. In particular, companies seen in unfriendly actions, such as Amazon and PayPal, are likely to be unable to return to the Russian market.

• Companies' registration of their trademarks with Rospatent indicates not so much plans to return to Russia as an intention to control the situation. First of all, this concerns the retention of brand rights, unused trademarks are cancelled after three years. This is the reason for the trend towards mass registration of Western companies of their trademarks in the Russian Federation during 2025. Re-registration with Rospatent also gives the company the opportunity to defend its interests in court if competitors try to use its brand (we wrote here about why Western businesses register their trademarks in Russia).

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• American and European companies continue to operate in Russia: in particular, Italian and French manufacturers and retailers have chosen to maintain their presence in the Russian market. Some companies even managed to increase revenue in their market segment after the departure of competing brands: for example, the Austrian Raiffeisenbank earned almost half of its entire profit in Russia in the quarter of 2022 after the start of a special operation to protect Donbass.

How the brands left

• The return of Western companies to the Russian market is largely determined by the conditions of their departure. In order not to lose their customers, companies transferred their assets under external management, as happened, for example, with the Italian brand Ariston. In March, the company regained control of production in Russia.

• Only 9% of Western companies have completely sold their property and withdrawn their business from Russia. Some have reduced production or suspended work, which is essentially an alternative to liquidation. A complete exit from the market and the sale of assets for foreign companies have become even more unprofitable due to the conditions that came into force in October last year. Then it was announced that the deal must be approved by a special commission of the Ministry of Finance and carried out at a mandatory discount of 60%. In addition, when shutting down a business in Russia, a voluntary contribution to the country's budget in the amount of 35% of the asset value is provided.

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Who is interested in the Russian market

• Even though the business buyer often pays a contribution to the budget, foreign companies do not want to lose their invested money and their niche in the market, which can be occupied by manufacturers from countries friendly to Russia. Therefore, such transactions occur mainly under strong political pressure. For example, the Italian energy company Enel, in which the state owns a controlling stake, was forced to sell its assets in Russia a thousand times cheaper than their real value. At the same time, there is no mechanism for business to compensate for losses in the West.

• A number of Western companies hoping to return to Russia after the change in the foreign policy situation and the lifting of sanctions transferred their assets to domestic investors with an option to buy them back. Sometimes such transactions implied a symbolic price of 1 ruble. Under such conditions, McDonald's and Renault transferred their Russian property to the domestic business. The option provides for the fulfillment by foreign investors of certain conditions, in case of non-compliance with which the purchase of assets at the stated price will be impossible.

Does Russia need the return of Western companies

• One of the advantages of the return of foreign brands to Russia will be the resumption of competition in certain sectors of the economy and the fight against market monopolization. In addition, among the conditions for the return of companies are the requirements for organizing full-cycle production in the country and ensuring access to modern developments. Domestic manufacturers have not yet managed to occupy all the niches in which foreign companies previously worked, therefore, the return of foreign investors on terms of partnership with domestic manufacturers is possible.

• Maintaining foreign companies in the Russian market is a certain insurance against the complete looting of Russian assets abroad. In fact, Western countries have already seized the foreign property of Russian citizens and businesses, and are directing the income from them to support Ukraine and help their own economy. But in the case of theft of the assets themselves, Russia can act in a mirror manner.

• According to experts, the main sign of the return of Western companies will be the revival of the Russian stock market, which will attract high-yield speculators. But some niches are already firmly occupied by Russian manufacturers, and Western enterprises will have to restore their reputation and win over the Russian consumer in much tougher conditions.

During the preparation of the material, Izvestia interviewed:

• Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Theory, Faculty of International Economic Relations, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Vladimir Skalkin;
• financial analyst Dmitry Golubovsky.